Lamb's Interest

"Brother Ning, those people came looking for us again yesterday..."

Chu Yun's voice trembled.

Chu Ning's fists clenched with a creak, and his lowered head snapped up:

"Those bastards! Isn't taking over my business enough? They still want to squeeze me dry!"

The autumn wind in November was bitterly cold. Chu Ning had just returned from the mountain and stepped inside when he heard those words.

In this world, one's birth almost determined everything.

Opportunities and sudden rises from obscurity were nothing but daydreams.

Three months ago, he had woken up to find himself transmigrated into the body of a small-time hunter in the Great Gan Dynasty.

His family had nothing but four bare walls. To make matters worse, the original owner's father had just died, and his body was still lying inside the house beneath a white cloth.

With no other choice, Chu Ning had gone to the Wang Family Pawnshop in the county and borrowed "lamb's interest."

To change his circumstances, he had also wanted to use the business knowledge from his past life. But he had neither strength nor connections. His business had only just begun to show promise when someone forcibly seized it.

Chu Ning noticed his sister's reddened eyes. A wave of bitterness welled up inside him, but he worked hard to steady his voice as he said:

"Sis, don't worry. This time, when I went up the mountain, I found traces of several nests of rabbits and pheasants. Tomorrow, I'll hunt them and exchange them for money."

"Don't try to fool me. The weather's been getting colder and colder. How could there be so much game for you to hunt?"

Chu Yun's face was filled with worry.

"I'm not lying to you, Sis. Our family has hunted for generations. How could our skills be the same as other people's? All right, your health isn't good. Go get some proper rest."

With that, Chu Ning helped Chu Yun into the room.

When he came back out, he swept his eyes across the shabby house. Two or three chipped ceramic bowls sat neatly arranged on a table missing one leg, while a narrow beam of light shone down through a gap in the roof.

Chu Ning's heart felt heavy, like those corners that had gone uncleaned for so long they were thick with dust.

The autumn wind poured in through several gaping holes in the window, beating against the door and making it creak incessantly.

"Hard, hard, hard!"

Chu Ning took out half a coarse-grain cake and leaned halfway back in his chair, letting out a deep sigh. "This damned world is determined to force people onto a dead end!"

He covered his face with one hand and desperately thought about what path he could take next. Yet every idea he came up with, he rejected in turn. His eyes were bloodshot after two sleepless days.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A burst of heavy pounding suddenly rang out at the door.

"Little bastard from the Chu family, get your ass out here!"

Outside the door, a scar-faced man and four or five underlings were shouting furiously.

"Creak—"

The shabby door opened. Chu Ning's face was dark as he stared at them.

To put it plainly, lamb's interest was usury.

After burying his father and failing at his business venture, he had been unable to repay the loan, and the interest had rolled higher and higher.

For the past month, they had come almost every day. Anything valuable in the house had long since been hauled away.

"Boy, Chu! You still haven't paid all the interest! What, do I have to come running over here every single day?!"

The scar-faced man launched straight into a torrent of abuse.

Chu Ning gritted his teeth and spoke almost one word at a time:

"Of course not. Here are the remaining thirty coins."

But he rummaged around inside his clothes for a long while before taking out the thirty copper coins one by one.

"Clatter—"

The copper coins collided and spilled into the scar-faced man's broad palm.

"Hmph! Why's there so little? This amount isn't even enough to cover my travel expenses!"

The scar-faced man pocketed the money, weighed it in his hand a few times, and snorted as he continued questioning him.

Chu Ning's face turned completely grim, and he fixed the scar-faced man with a deadly stare.

"We agreed at the start that the monthly interest was fifty coins. How did it change?"

"Monthly interest? I think you've gotten confused. It's one interest payment every seven days! Three months have passed. Now, principal and interest together, you still owe a full four taels of silver."

Four taels? He had only borrowed two taels to begin with. In just three months, it had doubled!

"Smack!"

Before Chu Ning could say anything else, a slap viciously struck him across the face in an instant.

Just as Chu Ning was about to be devoured by his fury,

a chill suddenly swept through his mind, forcibly calming him down.

At that moment, a bronze token he had acquired in his past life suddenly materialized.

Chaos Divine Order: Borrow against the Great Dao in reverse, shatter Heaven and Earth with force!

Current Order Master: Chu Ning

Current Order Master is attempting to rely on the Hardening Cultivation Technique: "Rough Stone Hardening Technique." Advance borrowing of "Rough Stone Hardening Technique" successful.

Repayment condition: Perform one thousand deep squats while carrying a five-hundred-pound boulder to succeed. After repayment, the next advance-borrowing effect will be unlocked!

Currently available cultivation techniques and martial arts for advance borrowing: None

In an instant, a vast and unfamiliar power surged into all four limbs and every bone in his body without warning.

In the blink of an eye, an ocean of cultivation experience flooded into Chu Ning's mind.

He vaguely saw himself rubbing his skin day after day with rough, sharp gravel. Cold sweat poured from the pain, while blood seeped out continuously and crusted over. Yet he had never wavered in the slightest, all for the sake of forging skin as tough as rock.

The scene shifted to him carrying a massive boulder and struggling up a mountain path. Every step felt burdened by the weight of a thousand jun. Sweat soaked through his clothes, and every inch of muscle trembled with aching pain...

Chu Ning clearly felt the strength in his body surge explosively. His muscles were taut and brimming with power.

Before Chu Ning could react, he heard a voice.

"Three days. I don't care what method you use. If you can't pay up in three days, I'll take your sister as repayment!"

After the scar-faced man finished speaking, he was about to lead his underlings away, muttering as he went, "What a coward. He's even more useless than that stubborn fool of a father."

Thinking of all the humiliation he had suffered over the past three months, Chu Ning's eyes seemed ready to spit flames.

"Damn it! All of you, stop right there!"

Chu Ning shouted angrily.

The scar-faced man turned around. The flesh on his face looked even more sinister beneath his ferocious grin. Rubbing the short cudgel in his hand, he advanced toward Chu Ning while spewing filthy curses:

"You little brat, what did you just say? If you've got the guts, say it again!"

The underlings behind him burst into laughter as well, like a pack of vicious wolves that had caught the scent of blood, ready to pounce and tear their prey apart at any moment.

Chu Ning drew a deep breath. The power from the Chaos Divine Order's advance borrowing of the "Rough Stone Hardening Technique" surged through his veins, bringing him courage and strength he had never possessed before.

He clenched both fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His eyes locked onto the scar-faced man, his gaze seeming capable of scorching him.

"I said, all of you, stop! No one's leaving today!"

Chu Ning roared each word distinctly, his voice carrying an unquestionable force.

The scar-faced man seemed to have heard the greatest joke in the world. He laughed until he rocked back and forth, casually swinging the short cudgel in his hand.

"You? You think you're somebody? If you don't hand over the money today, it won't be as simple as sending your sister to repay the debt."

Chu Ning wasn't frightened by the man's threats. On the contrary, he felt his blood boiling.

He suddenly strode forward, and the ground beneath his feet trembled faintly from the force of his movement.

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